Prospects for control of emerging infectious diseases with plasmid DNA vaccines

Moss, Ronald B

Throughout recorded history, infectious diseases have plagued human existence. One effective approach to limiting these diseases has been vaccination. For example, in a recent report by Roush and colleagues at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ever since the introduction of vaccines the incidence of infectious diseases like diphtheria, mumps, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, Haemophilus influenza and varicella zoster has declined by more than 80% in the U.S [1] . Furthermore, after the introduction of vaccines, large scale transmission of measles, rubella, and polio has been eliminated in the U.S., while smallpox has been eradicated worldwide. However, new emerging infectious pathogens such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), SARS coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome virus), and highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) viruses have adapted strategies to rapidly change their genetic compositions. As the influenza pandemic of 1918 (H1N1) killed approximately 20 to 50 million people worldwide, massive disease and death is similarly feared from newly emerging pathogens. In addition, the current novel swine derived H1N1 pandemic further exemplifies the need for a rapid and effective vaccine against emerging pathogens [2] . Thus a vaccination strategy to control emerging diseases will require a more effective and rapid response than available from conventional approaches such as live-attenuated vaccines, inactivated vaccines, or protein subunit vaccines. Plasmid DNA vaccines, as reviewed in this article, may be an option to effectively combat current emerging infectious diseases.